Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 88. The word origin today is
"bigwig. " Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. If we say that someone is a
big wig, it means that he or she is a very important person of power or
authority, especially somebody in a company or an organization. So we say
somebody is a big wig. Okay. Let's continue.
Sometimes this term is used in a disparaging way. Like maybe sometimes we
don't like this person. We're kind of annoyed by them. Sometimes when we call
them a bigwig ... in a disparaging way to show you don't like them or look upon
them unfavorably. All right. Let's continue. The origin of this term goes back to the
1600s. The first wigs seem to have taken off in France. Remember here we say take
off means became very popular in France. King Louis the XIII started to go
bald prematurely. So you know, at a young age and started wearing a wig. So you could
kind of say he set it off. Maybe he was a little bit of a trendsetter. Soon after
it became almost mandatory for anyone of royalty, nobility or high standing in
society to wear them. Okay. Basically anyone who was anyone or anyone of
importance or significance needed to wear one. Wigs were very expensive and
only the rich powerful and wealthy could afford such an extravagance. Okay. Over
time, the bigger and the higher one could wear a wig , the more the more status it
would be a symbol of. Thus the term big wig was born. So that's why they said
they must be a big wig some person of high importance basically.
Okay. Good. And lawyers were also expected to wear them. That's why even in
today ... Today even in England we still see that some lawyers still wear them from this
very old tradition. And it must be hot and we know even today those that wear
them in England they are very expensive those wigs. Okay let's continue. The
earliest use appears in the late 1700s. Well here the earliest use means the
earliest use of the term big wig. The wigs probably started in like around the
1600s but you know, by the 1700 so we could find the term in use. Okay. And we
just have a couple of examples to cover this. You need to make sure everything
appears in order. Some of the big wigs from headquarters are visiting our
factory today. So if anything looked out of order you know , somebody at the
factory ... the managers at the factory might get in trouble or they might have some
problems. They might have something said to them. So when they know they're coming,
they try to make everything look good before they get there. Some big wigs are
coming and you got to make sure ... no mess, no nothing around. Okay. Number two. Some big
wigs in the State Department decided to cut our benefits. This is another way
that you are kind of like annoyed at them. This would be a typical way that we
might use it. Okay. Anyway, I hope you got it. I hope it was clear. I hope it was informative.
Thank you for your time. Bye-bye..